August 5, 2025
Club Puebla defeat CF Montreal at Leagues Cup
CF Montreal’s third and final match of the 2025 Leagues Cup against Club Puebla of Liga MX was their final chance to leave a positive mark on the 2025 season, as they still had an outside chance of sneaking through to the knockout rounds of the Leagues Cup with a regulation time win. Even then – tomorrow’s matches could still usurp that spot from under CF Montreal’s collective feet.
Inter Miami are on the outside looking in with four points, one shy of what CF Montreal would have tallied with that regulation win – and without the services of one Lionel Messi, who knows what might have happened.
See Also: CF Montreal still has a chance to qualify at Leagues Cup
CF Montreal came out firing on all cylinders, looking inspired and continuing to play great football as they have done throughout their three games in the tournament. Early on, the momentum, possession and pressure was all coming from the local lads in front of a poorly filled Stade Saputo. CF Montreal’s aggressive offensive plays seemed to have Club Puebla on their heels and reeling.
A poorly judged challenge in the twenty-sixth minute by Joel Waterman was awarded with a red card and a penalty shot for Club Puebla. With tensions high, Club Pueblo’s Emiliano Gomez shot was saved by CF Montreal goalkeeper Thomas Gillier who was making his debut as a member of CF Montreal. What a way to be welcomed to the squad.
Now down to ten men, possession and the momentum of the game swayed towards Club Puebla, who up until Waterman’s foul, had been on the backfoot and were being outplayed by Montreal.
The first half ended with a brilliant chance from Montreal’s Hennadii Synchuk that came incredibly close to finding the corner of the net. After six minutes of added time, the referee blew his whistle instead of allowing CF Montreal to take their corner, much to the chagrin of the Montreal players and interim head coach Marco Donadel.
Despite being down a man, and the play heavily in Club Puebla’s favor, Prince Owusu opening the scoring for Montreal, notching his eleventh goal in his last eleven matches. The goal came off great vision from Cayden Clark, who stole a wayward Club Peubla pass and brought it down the right side of the field, where instead of putting a shot at goal, he instead sent a blisteringly hard pass across the box and just in reach to meet the outstretched foot of a sliding Owusu.
Just ten minutes later, Club Puebla found the equalizer when Emiliano Gomez recovered a loose ball that had just struck the post, and fired in beyond goalkeeper Thomas Gillier who had yet recovered from the dive he had made off the shot that struck the post.
In the 73rd minute, Ricardo Marin scored to give Club Puebla the lead – and it would prove to be the final scoring play of the match.
Club Peubla’s Raúl Castillo beat Brendan Craig at the goal line, and played what looked to be an innocent looking cross into the box, that founds its way to the weak foot of Ricardo Marin, who was all alone and just had to deflect the ball towards goal. It wasn’t pretty – but it got the job done.
CF Montreal looked the better team from the early going, and it was only when they had taken the lead that the Striped Ones really turned up their play. As the game wore on, the plays were growing more and more chippy and it felt as if tempers could boil over at any moment. With a potential spot in the knockout rounds of the Leagues Cup at stake, its easy to see why the game could have gotten out of hand. Several questionable decisions from referee Adonai Escobedo didn’t help the matter.
Despite the loss, CF Montreal performed well throughout the Leagues Cup, and bow out having played some of their best soccer of the season to date. When you’re sat in last place in the Eastern conference, any signs of progress and something to be positive about.
Read More:
>> CF Montreal still has a chance to qualify at Leagues Cup
>> Canada to face Japan in a friendly this November
>> CF Montreal shock Club León at the Leagues Cup
“I’m proud of my guys, and I think that CF Montreal must always play with this intensity and this mentality,” said CF Montreal’s interim head coach Marco Donadel. “It will be much easier to correct mistakes with this mindset,” said interim head coach Marco Donadel. “It was amazing for us to improve during this competition as a team and as a group.”
For CF Montreal, the 2025 Leagues Cup has come to an end and in order to qualify for next season cup, they would have to finish in the top nine in the Eastern conference which also isn’t a possibility, either. Club Puebla now await the results of the remaining matches to see where their fate lies. CF Montreal are next in action this coming Saturday, when they welcome Atlanta United to Stade Saputo.
